AU This Is Our Story
by Broken Narrator
Summary: So OBVIOUSLY this is my own universe. I only took one/two characters. I'll explain: before chapter 20 of Welcome Princess Light Breeze came out, I had a Starburst child called "Starry Burst." I saw this, and was like, Whaaaaat? Then I decided to take Night Wing. And yes I ship those two.
1. Starry Burst's Prolouge

**Let's start with the most popular...**

 **Ship.**

* * *

"Sunburst!" Princess Cadence shouted to calm his panicking.

"Uh... yes Princess?" Sunburst asked.

The princess sighed. "I know you're nervous, but it's okay! You'll do fine. If that wasn't so, why would she keep sending you letters?"

He sighed. "That's true."

As he arrived at the castle, he wiped his glasses.

"Go on, Sunburst," Cadence encouraged.

He walked in. "Twilight Sparkle?"

She was glad to see him. "Sunburst! It is so good to see someone else in this castle who isn't LOCKED UP IN HER ROOM."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Just a certain Starlight is just in her room today. I think she's down in the dumps or something. You could try going to see her!"

"Oh- Okay..." Sunburst said as he gazed through the hall. "She was right when she said it is easy to get lost in here..."

"Second last door to your right."

"Thanks, Princess." He said, walking to where she said.

 _Come on, just knock!_ He thought.

Sighing, he put his hoof down.

"What am I going to do?"

There was suddenly music in the background.

He began to softly sing, _"Back then, our friendship burned so brightly... But then, I went and left her sight. How can she expect to make our hearts one? Can Starlight forgive a pony who's heart pure as cold? Will she send out her friendship if my story's told? Should I tell her it's her fault that my heart turned to blue? Or maybe..."_

 _"Just maybe, it'd be better if she never knew..."_

 _Starlight saw Starburst reading something in the garden. "Hey, how do you do magic so easily?"_

 _"Here, try this!" Sunburst said. He used his magic to make the books levitate. "Not so hard, right?"_

 _They were in the kitchen. "I don't think I can work this spell right, Star!" Sunburst said. Starlight got an idea._

 _She tilted the cup to break on the ground. "Try."_

 _"Okay..." He said, scrubbing the whole floor clean. "Huh. Can you try?"_

 _Nodding, the whole house turned sparkling clean._

 _As they stacked books in the living room, it almost tilted down on Starlight. "Sunburst!"_

 _"Star! Hold on, I got you!"_

 _The books re-shelved and a glowing sun appeared on his flank._

 _Gasping, he smiled. "Hey, my cutie mark! I finally got my cutie mark!"_

 _As the door closed, Starlight stammered, "Sunburst?"_

"Why did I leave her?" he asked himself.

" _Do I mention to her that I'm not what I hoped to be? Just blame me, even though I was only a kid. Can I forgive myself if she doesn't come through? Or maybe, maybe, it'd be better if she never knew..."_

 _"But back then, our friendship burned so bright; But then I went, and left her sight. How can the princesses expect me to make our hearts one? Forgive a pony who's heart's pure as cold? Send out her friendship if my story's told? Tell her it's her fault that our hearts turned blue? Or maybe... just maybe... it'd be better if we never knew._ "

The music screeched and stopped as a female voice came trotting angerly, "Okay, that's it! Who's singing in front of my door?" The door opened. "Sunburst?"

"Ah- Star... Star... Starlight! I was j-just..."

He was embraced into a hug. "I missed you so much! You didn't tell me you were coming over!"

Sunburst hugged the mare back. "Well, I missed you too."

"Starlight! Sunburst! Over here!" Spike called.

They galloped over to the library. "What is it, Spike?"

Spike rolled his eyes and looked at Twilight, back at Starlight and Sunburst. "Sunburst's friendship lesson."

"Oh really? Do you know what it is yet?"

"Actually, his friendship problem is the same as your friendship lesson. You two will, umm, go and hang out in Ponyville for a while. This will help to really get you two to know each other better and become better friends. I know this doesn't seem that important, but believe me when I say that this will really help you two grow as friends and possibly as ponies. For now, please show him around the castle so he doesn't get lost!" Twilight told him calmly.

Sunburst reluctantly followed the purple mare out the door and into the series of endless hallways and doors. Spike watched as they left the throne room. As soon as the door closed behind them he turned to Twilight. "Really Twilight? That was the best you could come up with?"

"You know I'm not a good lair. I was put on the spot!" She replied.

"Whatever, they bought it. Step one of Operation: Starburst, complete. They'll be together in no time!" Spike said cheerfully.

"Do you really think this will work, Spike?" Twilight asked him.

"What? Of course, it will! Did you see their faces when they saw each other? They're totally in love! Trust me, I'm a love expert," Spike said confidently.

"One failed romantic relationship does not make you an expert," Twilight told him. "but I do see your point. There's definitely something there. They'll just need a little push."

"Leave that to me, Twi. I've got everything figured out," Spike said tapping his claws together.

* * *

"And this is the spare bedroom I imagine you're going to be staying in while you're here," Starlight said as she opened a door up to a cozy room decorated with a bed, writing desk and bookshelf in the corner.

"Hmm this does seem pretty perfect here, it's right next to both the library and your room in case I ever need to speak to you," Sunburst said, looking around the small room. "Yes, this will do nicely! Thanks for showing me around Starlight."

"Nah, it's nothing. It's the least I could do for a friend." Sunburst could feel his heart die a little as he heard that word coming out of her mouth.

"Yeah, friend. That's all we are," Sunburst tried to say under his breath. "What was that?" Starlight asked.

"What?! Oh uh, nothing! I didn't say anything!" Sunburst watched as her face held a look of confusion. "Look, it's getting really late so I should probably be heading to bed. See you tomorrow, Starlight!"

And with that: Sunburst shut the door to his new room and sat in front of the door. When he heard her leave, he breathed a sigh of relief. "That was bad. I don't know how I'm gonna make it tomorrow without embarrassing myself even more," he sighed. "Oh well, I probably should get some sleep," He said before walking over to his bed.

Starlight stood at the door, wondering what had him so frazzled. She decided it was best left alone and just headed to her room. The one thing on her mind though, as she walked to her room, was how cute Sunburst looked when flustered like that.

* * *

Sunburst woke up the next morning, not feeling very well at all. Maybe it was because his bed was a bit too small for him. Maybe it was that food he ate on the train ride that didn't taste quite right. Or maybe it was the fact that he was here with Starlight for who knows how long.

How was he gonna keep his feelings in check when he didn't even know how long he had to endure?

He looked out the window in his room and saw that Celestia's sun had just risen, painting the clouds outside in a beautiful orange. He opened the window to smell the fresh air, which calmed him down a little. Just then, he heard a knock on his door. "Sunburst? Are you up yet? Twilight called us," Starlight's voice echoed through the room.

Sunburst quickly grabbed his glasses off the table and levitated them onto his face. "Yeah, I'm up. I'll be out in just a second." Sunburst got down from his bed and walked over to the chair where he left his usual robe.

After donning his wizard robe, he headed for the door. The door swung open, and Sunburst's eyes met with Starlight's. "Hey. It's, uh, good to see you up." Starlight looked at Sunburst's turned face, which was blushing slightly.

Starlight was standing a lot closer than he had expected, and the closeness was causing Sunburst's head to spin. "Yeah, uh, good to see you too, Starlight!" Sunburst averted his gaze in a futile attempt to calm his it together! Sunburst thought to himself. He was making a fool of himself, and it wasn't even seven 'o clock yet. You're gonna need to work extra hard if you want to get through this time here.

"Sunburst? Are you okay?" A soft voice broke him out of his thinking. He looked back to see Starlight a bit farther away, but still looking him right in the eyes. "You sort of blacked out there."

"What? Who, me? No no no no. I'm fine," Sunburst stammered, trying to hide his blush. He saw the look on Starlight's face and saw only confusion. "So, you mentioned something about Twilight needing us?" Sunburst needed to change the topic, desperately. Fortunately, that worked.

"Oh right. Yes, she called us to the library. Something about our first lesson together. She still hasn't told me exactly what we're doing, but I try not to question her." Starlight turned around. "So, should we get going?"

"Sure, uh, yeah. Lead the way," Sunburst followed up with a nervous laughed slightly. "What's with you today? You've been acting so weird and nervous recently. It's just like when we were foals."

"Was I really that awkward as a colt?" Sunburst asked as he followed Starlight to the library."Are you kidding me? When we first met, the only way I could get you to talk was to talk about magic!" Starlight said, thinking about the good old days. The days before Cutie Mark stealing and time travel. "Back then we would talk about magic all the time. It only made sense you got your Cutie Mark in it." Starlight looked down, as if ashamed.

Twilight was inside sitting at a table, reading some big book. She looked up, to notice the two ponies that had walked in, and waved.

"Hey, Twilight. I got him. Now, why did you call us here?" Starlight asked as she moved towards where Twilight was sitting.

"Well, like I said, this is your first friendship lesson together. So, I decided that we could work on how the bond you two share can help to empower the magic inside both of you!" The two unicorns in front of Twilight just stood there with confused looks. "Huh. What I mean is, you're gonna help Sunburst to cast higher level magic with your newly restored friendship."

"With all due respect, why would we need to do this? " Sunburst asked.

"Well, I heard from Cadence that, despite your vast knowledge of various spells and magic, you can't seem to cast most of it. That was why you dropped out of Celestia's school, right?"

Sunburst backed down and Starlight stepped up. "So you're saying that our bond will help Sunburst cast the magic he couldn't cast in school?"

"That's what I'm hoping for. After all, as a crystaller, Sunburst will need to do more than just talk about spells, but do them as well, in order to help teach."

"Eh, it's worth a shot." Starlight shrugged her shoulders and turned to Sunburst. "What do you think? Wanna try it?"

Sunburst looked at her with those big blue eyes of hers. It was true that they had grown a lot closer since they met up in the Crystal Empire through the near, everyday letters. Plus, it was because of her that he actually got his Cutie Mark in the first place. "I don't see why not. I guess we could give it a shot."

"Great! I'll leave you two to it!" Twilight said, exiting the room, levitating the book she was reading earlier with her."Wait what about-" Starlight started, but Twilight was already gone. "She could've at least given some sort of spell to start off with." Starlight turned back to Sunburst. "So, what do you think we should start off with?"

"Well, I'm not sure. What do you recommend?"

"I'm not really sure, I don't know what your limits are, so I don't know what to recommend. I guess we could start with trying to find your limits. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yeah, seems fine." That's what Sunburst said, but what he was thinking sounded completely different. In his mind, he was saying stuff like _O_ _h Celestia... I'm gonna embarrass myself in front of Starlight, and this is going to be a disaster!_ Sunburst was trying to keep a level head, but failing miserably.

"You sure? You're literally shaking," Starlight said, pointing towards him.

"Yes, I'll be fine, honestly." Sunburst finally stopped his quivering and stood still.

"You know you're awfully cute when you're nervous," Starlight said, toying with Sunburst.

Just outside the door stood a small baby dragon with his head up against the door of the library. "Yes! Phase two is in progress!" Spike whispered as he grabbed his checklist. He checked off "phase two" on the long list in his hand. The baby dragon stopped and looked at the checklist. "I've been spending way too much time with Twilight."

* * *

Sunburst collapsed, exhausted from the mental and physical strain of trying to cast a powerful spell that was far beyond his skills. It wasn't that he didn't know how to do them. That was never the case. His problem was trying to actually cast was an ongoing issue in his life and was a big reason why he didn't pass magic school.

"Sunburst! Are you okay?!" Starlight shouted as she ran to help him up. "Is this one too much for you too?"

Sunburst was able to get up on his hooves, with the help of Starlight. "It seems so," he said pushing his glasses up. "I just don't understand it. I know exactly what I'm supposed to do, but it just doesn't work."

"I don't know what to do. Twilight wants me to help you with your magic, but I don't know how!" Starlight sighed. She looked around the library, trying to find something that might help her. She didn't see anything that caught her two Unicorns had been trying various spells, in the hopes that Sunburst would be able to cast them. He could do a few. He successfully was able to turn an apple into an orange. He could also teleport, sort of. Whenever Sunburst teleported, he would end up incredibly tired. Most of the other spells had just ended up with nothing happening or Sunburst collapsing from the strain and it was really getting to them.

"You wanna just call it a day? We're not getting anywhere," Sunburst asked walking to the window. He looked outside and saw that it was a nice beautiful day. "We've been trying for about four hours and we haven't learned anything." Starlight sighed."Sure, I guess." Starlight sat down at one of the various tables in the library and slouched. "I'm too burned out to think right now."

Sunburst walked over and took a seat across the table from Starlight. It broke Sunburst's heart to see Starlight so distraught. He wanted to do whatever he could to get her to smile, but that would require him casting a spell. So, he thought of the next best thing.

"Hey, you wanna go out and walk around Ponyville?"

"Like, a date?" Starlight asked. Sunburst hadn't even thought of it like that. "Um, No! I mean yes? I don't-"

Starlight cut him off. "I'm just kidding. No need to freak out!"

Sunburst knew that was supposed to be a comforting gesture but he took it as the opposite. _See, it was just a joke. Why would she ever want to go out on a date with me?_

"Sure. Let's go walk around town. I can introduce you to all of Twilight's friends!" Starlight said, leaving the library. She turned her head back to see that Sunburst was still standing in the same spot, deep in thought. "Sunburst, you coming?" She called out."Oh, uh, right! Coming now," he said, snapping out of his little mind battle with himself. He walked to the library door and followed behind Starlight to Ponyville, making sure to step over the sleeping dragon in the hallway.

* * *

When they returned, Sunburst sighed as he finally got the chance to sit down at the castle.

"You okay Sunburst?" Starlight commented, looking at her childhood friend slump down on the table in front of her.

Sunburst yawned loudly before replying, "I'm just a bit tired after today. Twilight's friends sure do have a lot of energy!"

"Oh yeah, that. They were a lot crazier today than usual. Sorry about Rainbow and Pinkie. I think they were just excited to have a new pony to prank." Starlight walked over next to him and rubbed Sunburst's back trying to comfort him. "Oh, by the way, how's your tail doing?"

Sunburst lifted up his slightly burned tail to see that it was still smoking slightly. "It should be fine. Nothing time can't fix," he told her. "But hey, at least I can't say meeting them was dull. It never is with you ponies."

"Yeah, that's true. I just had to save the most powerful ponies in Equestria from an evil bug queen with a stage magician, a Draconequus and a reformed Changeling last week. I threw out normal life the day I cast that stupid spell." Just mentioning that day with the time travel spell made Starlight's mood shift. Wanting to change the subject, she quickly asked, "So, I wonder why the Changelings didn't take you?"

Sunburst had often wondered that himself. The Changelings replaced everyone, even the baby! So why didn't they take him?

 _Oh, it's because little old Sunburst is unimportant._

"I don't know. Who cares? It's over now," he said quickly, trying to push those negative thoughts out of his head. "One thing I am happy about is that I got to spend a day with you again. We haven't been able to actually hang out with each other since we were foals."

Starlight had felt the same way. It was really nice to reconnect with Sunburst in person. It was almost like he had never left. "Thanks, Sunburst. It's good to know I can still entertain you. I really thought that you stopped contacting because you didn't like me or you got bored of me."

 _That's what she thought? No, that was never the case. I could never feel that way about her._

"Don't worry about that," he said, wrapping his hoof around Starlight. "You found me, and I'm not going to lose you again."

"Since when did you become such a suave speaker?" Starlight asked, looking up at the orange pony above her.

Sunburst's brain was still taking a little time to process what Starlight just said. "What?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were crushing on me," Starlight told him, giving a cheeky smile.

 _CODE RED! CODE RED! ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION!_

"I, well, um," Sunburst stammered out. By this point, he had taken his hoof off of Starlight and fallen off the chair he was sitting on. As he said that, he had started to back himself into a wall, in a futile effort to escape. Starlight just looked at him funny as he had a mini-meltdown.

"Just like when we were foals. Well, it's getting late, so I should probably start heading to bed. Tomorrow's another day of practice so we'll want a full night's rest. See ya tomorrow." Starlight said, waving, as she walked down a hall, disappearing into the maze that was this castle.

Sunburst sighed in relief, sliding down the wall he was leaning on to sit down. _I'm not sure I can handle her doing that for much longer. If I'm going to survive this trip, I'm gonna need a plan. But first, I need to find out how to get back to my room._ "Starlight? Twilight? Spike? Is any pony there?" Sunburst's voice echoed throughout the castle with no reply. Sunburst gulped as he tried to navigate the labyrinth castle that he was now lost in.

* * *

Starlight got up from her bed as she heard a loud boom from the library. "What the heck was that!?"

She saw that it was midnight. Sighing, she walked down the hall. "I swear if it's another Ponyville disaster..."

When she opened the door, she saw Sunburst, stuck to the ceiling, wrapped up in webs.

"Oh, um, hey Starlight," Sunburst said, shakily. "I've got some good news and some bad news!" As soon as he said that, Starlight heard a loud crash behind her. She slowly turned her head to see a giant spider behind her. "Holy Celestia!"

The spider towered over Starlight and stared at her with hungry eyes. "Yeah, that's the bad news," Sunburst called from the ceiling. "The good news is, my magic is getting stronger."

The spider hissed at her, and Starlight took off farther into the library. The whole room was covered in spider silk, and Starlight could see the spider catching up with her. The spider dived at her, and Starlight levitated herself out of the way. The spider hit its head on a wall and looked stunned. "Sunburst! What did you do?!" she screamed.

"Well, I was practicing my magic in here, because I couldn't sleep, and one thing leads to another, and I accidentally cast a growing spell on a spider that was in the corner."

"Well, tell me how to reverse the spell!"

"I... didn't get that far before this thing started attacking. But I did see the book I was reading over there by that table."

Starlight looked around and found a green book sitting on the table on the other side of the room. "Well, grab it and cast the counter spell." The spider was started to stir by the wall.

"Well, about that. It turns out that this particular species of spider has webs that absorb magical energy, and, well..." Starlight noticed that Sunburst's horn was covered in the sticky web. "Yeah, I can't really use my magic at this moment."

Just then, the spider got back up and turned around to see Starlight. "Oh, come on! Can't I just get a break?" The spider charged at her again and just barely missed Starlight as she ducked underneath it. She looked at the book on the table and ran towards it, with the spider in hot pursuit.

Starlight dodged out of the way of the spider's leg and tried to grab the book, but it was stuck to the table by some of the spider's web. While Starlight tried to grab the book off the table, the spider tried to take another bite at her but hit the wall beneath Sunburst instead.

The room shook, and the book came off the table with a rip. "Hey! I think that loosened up the webs a little! Do it again, and I might be able to help!" Sunburst shouted down to Starlight.

Starlight lifted the book up to Sunburst and stuck it in the web so he could read it. "Here, you try to find the spell and I'll distract the spider." Starlight told him before she ran the spider into another wall.

Sunburst's horn wasn't quite loose enough that he could levitate the book or turn the pages, so he was left with just his mouth. Every so often, Sunburst would feel another shake as Starburst kept trying to knock Sunburst down.

Finally, he found the shrinking spell. "Starlight! I think I found it!" Sunburst shouted out.

"Good! Now, all we need is-" Starlight was interrupted by the spider swinging it's leg around and smacking Starlight against the wall beneath Sunburst. She opened her eyes to see the spider charging at her again, but this time, she couldn't move. She was stuck on the webs on the wall. Luckily, that was the final push Sunburst needed to come crashing down from the ceiling.

As Sunburst fell, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The spider seemed to move at a snail's pace and it didn't even feel like he was falling. Sunburst quickly read the spell from the book and got ready to cast it. He noticed that his horn was free, and started to focus. Starlight watched, as Sunburst's horn glowed with magic, and shot out a yellow ray that stopped the spider dead in its tracks. The spider shrunk and shrunk until it was barely the size of an ant. Sunburst opened up his eyes and realized that the giant spider wasn't there anymore. He tried to jump up in triumph but remembered that his limbs were still tied up with spider webs and fell over instead. He squirmed pathetically to no avail, and just laid there on his side.

"Well, that was fun," he said, looking back at Starlight.

* * *

About an hour had passed since the whole spider incident, and the two unicorns, with the help of Spike and Twilight, had finally finished getting most of the webs out of the library. Twilight had just left, after giving the two a stern talking to about messing with magic alone, when Starlight decided she was finally going to confront Sunburst about what just happened.

"So, Sunburst, how exactly did you end up using that spell on the spider?" Starlight asked.

"Well, I, uh, I've been practicing that spell for a few days now, and I just couldn't get it right. So, I sort of got a little angry and cast it one final time. Unfortunately, the spell was a little too strong for me, and it went wild, hitting the spider, which would probably explain why the spider was so aggressive."

"Sunburst, why didn't you just tell me that you wanted to learn that spell? We could've practiced it together and avoided something like that!" _What the hell was he thinking? He knows magic can be dangerous!_

"Well, I, uh,-" Sunburst sighed. "I wanted to impress you."

 _Wait, what?_ Starlight thought, eyes going wide.

"I look up to you, Starlight, and I wanted to show you that our practice hasn't gone to waste." Sunburst looked down at his hooves. "I know it was stupid, and I'm sorry for putting you in danger back there. I just wanted to show you that you've helped me improve, and I appreciate it.

"All of that, just to impress me? Starlight pulled Sunburst into a hug. "Don't you dare practice magic alone again. You may not think so, but I care about you more than you think." Starlight said, trying not to cry.

For a while, Sunburst stood still, before slowly wrapping his hooves around Starlight. "Thank you Starlight, that means a lot." A few stray tears started to run down Sunburst's face.

The two ponies stayed that way for what felt like forever. As she stayed, cradled in Sunburst's hooves, Starlight couldn't help but think back to what Sunburst had said. _He risked his life to impress me._ Starlight couldn't wrap her head around that. She didn't know how to feel. She didn't know if she should be impressed by his determination, or scared because of how willing he was to put himself in danger. The one thing she did know, was that she was happy he made it out alive. Almost losing him made Starlight realize just how much Sunburst meant to her. Maybe that's why she didn't run and get help. If she tried to get help, Sunburst might be gone, but she didn't want to think about that. Right now, Starlight wanted to enjoy this hug for as long as she could. It was the one thing stopping her from punching him for his stupidity.

* * *

Starlight stirred slightly as her eyes slowly opened. The world around her felt warm, very warm, and soft too. One thing was bugging her though, why did her blanket feel so heavy? Starlight turned her head to see a familiar orange coat and scarlet mane. Starlight's eyes widened as her half-asleep brain pieced together who this was.

Why is Sunburst in my bed? Starlight thought. She looked around to notice that she was. In fact, not in her bedroom, but still in the library. It wasn't until now that Starlight noticed that she was laying on the ground, yet she was, oddly, still very comfortable.

Sunburst, in his sleep, had wrapped his front hooves around Starlight and was resting his chin on her mane. A small blanket was placed on top of the two ponies. _I guess that spider wore us out more than I thought._

Starlight looked back at the sleeping stallion next to her. She couldn't help but blush a little at the situation. Starlight, in the embrace of a sleeping Sunburst. For some reason, Starlight really liked being this close to him. She could never get away with this if he was awake. He'd just get embarrassed and run. But that was part of the fun.

Starlight started to turn around in his hooves. For some reason, she really wanted to snuggle up to Sunburst more. So she buried her head in Sunburst's chest and got comfortable. Starlight really enjoyed the feeling of Sunburst's chest rise and sink every time he breathed. It seemed alien to feel like this, being so close to another living being.

 _I haven't felt this relaxed since-_ her thoughts stopped as she remembered the last time she felt like this. It was back when she was still just a filly.

Starlight decided that it was a good idea to go exploring the forest near town. She didn't get too far before she heard a colt yelling out to her. Sunburst followed her and wanted to try to convince her that the forest was dangerous, but Starlight didn't listen. Starlight ran off into the forest, with Sunburst trailing behind a while, Starlight got bored and decided that it was time to go home. Unfortunately, Starlight didn't know the way back, so the two foals spent the rest of the day wandering aimlessly. When night fell, the two foals were no closer to home than they were before, so they decided to sleep for a while, it was clear that neither of them was getting any sleep. The forest was really cold at night so they had to huddle for warmth. It didn't make sense, but Starlight felt oddly relaxed as the shy colt wrapped his hooves around her. She never felt so warm; it wasn't long before they fell asleep. Thinking back, the only times she felt this relaxed were back then and right was a little upset when she woke up to find that Sunburst was gone, leaving her lying on the cold grass. She started to wipe her eyes clear when she noticed a large shadow towering over her from behind. Starlight froze, as she heard a deep rumbling."Ugh." Sunburst groaned, bringing Starlight back to reality.

"Oh, what time is it? And why am I so warm?" Sunburst looked down to see the purple and blue mane of Starlight Glimmer, wrapped in his hooves, incredibly close.

Starlight looked up to face Sunburst, beet red and frozen in place. Starlight felt her face burn up as well, as she noticed that their snouts were barely an inch apart.

She then suddenly remembered how close she had gotten and froze in stared at each other for a while before Starlight spoke up, "Morning..." Her voice was slow and careful.

Sunburst tried to open his mouth but all that came out was a slight squeak. He decided to go with the much easier nod.

Starlight found herself at a loss for words, which was strange. She never had a problem with intimacy before, but now that Starlight looked up into those bright blue eyes, she couldn't get her mouth to work.

Sunburst was in full panic mode, his mind going a hundred miles per hour. But, he took a deep breath, gulped down the lump in his throat and finally spoke, "Starlight." He looked away, unable to look her in the eyes. He slowly released his grip on her.

Starlight was so confused. _Why won't my mouth work? Why is my heart racing like this? I don't get it! What changed?_ Starlight slowly stood up from her position on the ground. All she could do is look off into space and question what was wrong.

"Starlight? Starlight? Are you okay?" Sunburst asked, waving a hoof in front of Starlight's face. She was able to snap out of her trance to see Sunburst's eyes, looking deep into hers. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, we can just forget this happened." Sunburst's face was still pretty red but showed a lot less panic.

Starlight stepped back a little to catch her breath. "No, no, I just, need some time to think. Okay?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. That's fine. Take all the time you need. I- Woah!" Sunburst tried to play it cool but ended up slipping on the blanket on his way to the table.

They both laughed lightly before Starlight slowly turned around and headed down the hallway.

Sunburst gave a small smile as he watched Starlight leave the room. "That went better than expected," he said to himself.

Spike walked in eating a cookie. "You should ask her out on a date."

His ears went up. "M-me?"

"Yeah. I've been watching you since day one! It is time."

He fixed his mane. "W-what do I even say?"

Spike put down his cookie. "Let's rehearse. Follow my lead."

* * *

"Twilight?"

Twilight looked up from the overly complicated Daring Do made-up book that Rainbow Dash created. "Yes?"

"Well, ever since Sunburst got here a while back, him and I have been getting a lot closer. At first, I thought it was just because we were old friends, but recently, I've started to see Sunburst very differently."

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, adjusting herself so she could better focus on Starlight.

"Well, up until a few days ago, I just liked hanging out with him, but now, I feel like I want to spend all of my time with him. But, I've also started to get a little nervous around him. That doesn't make sense right? Why would I get nervous around a person I want to be around?"

"Hmm. Okay, how did you feel when you last talked to him?" Twilight asked, scratching her chin.

"Well, um, earlier this morning, I sort of... woke up in his hooves. I felt so relaxed and calm, but when he woke up, my body went crazy. I couldn't think straight, my heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst, and I couldn't get my mouth to work. I just- I don't know what this feeling is."

"Well, from the way you're describing it, it sounds to me like you might've fallen for Sunburst. Maybe it had something to do with how he saved you from that spider last night."

"You think I'm in love with Sunburst?" The idea rolled around in her head. It's not like she knew what love felt like. She spent most of her time all by herself. She never really had anyone to turn to while growing up."That's what it sounds like to me." Twilight told her."Do you have any personal experience with this type of thing?" Starlight asked.

Twilight's face turned pink and she seemed to get a little nervous. "Well, uh, one pony." Twilight went silent. "Look, what's important here is, now that you have an idea of what you're feeling, what are you going to do with it?"

That particular question, was a really good one, _What should I do?_ _I don't even know if that really is what I'm feeling. Love._ It didn't seem wrong to her, it just felt strange to say. Starlight had never really thought of love before. "I don't know."

"Well, whatever it is you decide to do, I'm here to help," Twilight said, smiling at Starlight.

"Thanks, Twilight. I think I just need some time to think things through." Starlight stood up from her seat and smiled back at Twilight."I'm happy to help."

"I'll see you around, Twi!" Starlight said, before turning to head out the door."See you later." Twilight called out before the door closed behind Starlight.


	2. Starry Burst's Prolouge Part 2

Sunburst woke up, feeling more nervous than he'd ever felt in his life. Today is the day. Sunburst was about to ask the mare of his dreams out on a date. Sunburst dreamed about this day, but never imagined it would come.

How should I do this? Would he try to play it cool? Or try to sweep her off her hooves? Only one way to find out.

Sunburst slid out of his bed and donned his usual cape and glasses. He walked out the door, only to stop as he realized that Starlight was right in front of him.

She wore a smile that seemed to falter the longer she stood there. "Hi, Sunburst. I'm sorry about yesterday. I just had to get a few things together and I forgot about our training."

"It's okay, Starlight," Sunburst replied, slightly stuttering. _Now's the perfect time to tell her!_ Sunburst swallowed the lump in his throat, and prepared himself to let all his feelings out."How about I make it up to you with dinner? My treat. There's something I want to tell you," Starlight asked, deflating all of Sunburst's confidence.

"Oh, uh, sure! That's fine. I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about anyways," Sunburst trailed off."Oh, well that's good. I guess we can... talk then," Starlight replied, awkwardly.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds before Starlight told Sunburst that she had to go. Sunburst waved and put up a brave face until Starlight was out of sight, then proceeded to freak out.

 _What just happened?_ Sunburst thought. _Did Starlight just ask me out? Right when I was about to ask her out?_ Millions of questions were running through Sunburst's head as he tried to understand his situation.

 _Did she ask me on a date? Or was it just as friends? Does this mean she likes me back? Why did she choose now to ask me out_?

Sunburst growled, "Why are mares so complicated?!"

"Sunburst? Are you okay?" Starlight said, popping her head back to the hallway Sunburst was standing in.

Sunburst jumped a little and tried to regain his composure. "What? I'm fine. I didn't say anything!"

Starlight gave him a half smile with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, whatever you say, Sunburst," she said, before disappearing, once again, down the hallway.

Sunburst quickly ran into his room and closed the door behind him. Sunburst stood on his hind legs, leaning on the door, trying to block it off. He put his hoof to his chest and started to hyperventilate. _Calm down, Sunburst. Calm down!_ He slid down the door, leaving him in a sitting position. _How does that mare always know exactly what to do to send me running?!_

* * *

Starlight smiled as she saw Sunburst standing in front of a highly burnt target. He wore the biggest smile she had ever seen and was panting slightly. "Was that one better?" he asked, confidently. The two ponies decided to move their usual training outside since they were trying more combat-orientated magic.

"Way better. You're really getting the-" Starlight interrupted herself by shooting a light blue laser at Sunburst. She saw him quickly react to the oncoming beam with a bright orange barrier. Here's the moment of truth! Starlight could see Sunburst flinch for a second, but he held his ground, as the blue laser dissolved into the orange barrier. When Sunburst opened his eyes, he not only realized that he was still standing, but his barrier spell was still up. His eyes widened with excitement and he jumped into the air, shouting, "Yes!"

Starlight watched Sunburst celebrate his little victory as she thought about all the progress he had made. It turned out that the training not only improved his magic ability but his form as well. Despite all of Sunburst's magical knowledge, he had some pretty big casting issues. He would spread his legs too far, or he wouldn't lower his head enough, or he would hesitate. Things that were pretty common, but could be very damning if not fixed. He also seemed to lack confidence, but that issue seemed to be solving itself. Huh. A little friendship could go a long way.

Sunburst eventually made his way over to Starlight, still with that gigantic smile from when he stopped the blast. "Did you see that? The blast didn't even break the shield! Three weeks ago, my shield would've broken instantly!" Sunburst started ranting. "And what about the target?! I melted it! Normally one of my blasts would've bounced off it!"

Starlight had never seen Sunburst this excited. It was oddly cute. He was like a colt on Hearth's Warming. Or like a male version of Pinkie Pie on a normal day. "That was amazing, Sunburst! You've made so much progress!" Starlight chimed, her smile now just as big as Sunburst's. "You're on fire today." She turned her head to the smoking target. "Literally! Have you been holding out on me?"

The question made Sunburst scratch his chin as he thought. "No? Well, I don't think so anyway," he questioned. "I guess I just have the right motivation now."

"'Right motivation?' What do you mean by that?" Starlight asked.

Sunburst hesitated, but went on to say, "Well, by that I meant... you. I just thought of how much I wanted to impress you, and suddenly my magic has doubled in power." Sunburst's face had turned to a bright shade of red as he spoke.

Starlight's heart started pounding faster than normal and her face started to heat up. "Why me? I'm nothing special," she said, nervously.

"'Nothing special?' You're the mare that got me off my lazy butt to save the Crystal Empire. You're the mare that's been helping me get back on my hooves. You're the mare who inspires me every day, with her confidence alone! You may not see any of that as, 'special.' But, to me, that makes you everything." Sunburst was only getting redder as he spoke, but he didn't seem to care. It was almost like saying this was more important to him than getting embarrassed.

Starlight stood there, lip quivering, completely unable to respond in any way. _"You inspire me every day, with your confidence alone!"_ That's exactly what he said, back then. Starlight flashed back to the memory she had yesterday. Starlight turned around to figure out that the shadow was a giant dire bear.

The bear stood on its hind legs, with thorns poking out of its body in random places. Black fur, and white claws, its eyes were red and full of anger. Starlight found herself frozen in fear. The bear towered over her as she sat on the ground. The bear raised one of its huge claws and growled as it started to swing down at her. Time seemed to stop as she feared that this would be the end.

"HEY! YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" a shrill voice called out. The bear froze and turned its head to see a small and trembling Sunburst standing not too far from it. "You get away from her or I'll... I'll..." Sunburst's voice was filled with fear as he provoked the bear.

The bear growled back at Sunburst and started to charge at him. Starlight tried to move, but her body just wouldn't respond. "Sunburst, just run!" she shouted out. But, despite this, Sunburst stood his ground. His wobbling knees straightened out and he planted his hooves firmly on the ground.

Sunburst closed his eyes, stiffened his body, and shouted, "Here goes nothing!" With that, Sunburst cast up an orange magic barrier around himself, just as the bear was above him. The bear scratched and bit the shield, but got no response. Sunburst noticed something on the bear from underneath the barrier. Sunburst cast an orange beam, through the shield, straight into the bear's belly, pushing it up slightly. It was then that Starlight found that she could finally move her body. She shot a sudden burst of energy at the bear, knocking it off the barrier and into a tree. Seeing this, Sunburst quickly lowered his shield and ran towards the bear. Before the bear could even take a swing at him, Sunburst removed the thorn from the bears left paw. The bear seemed to calm down, and slowly started to walk away."Sunburst! Why would you do that?! You could've got hurt!" Starlight shouted as she ran up to him.

"Well, I had to save you," he replied.

"But why?" she cried, hugging Sunburst.

"You inspire me."

"I do?" Starlight looked up at Sunburst with tear stains down her face.

"Yeah. You inspire me every day, with your confidence alone! You make me feel like someday, I could be that confident. Plus, you're my best friend, I could never lose you." Sunburst hugged Starlight even closer, tears starting to run down his face as well. The two foals sat there, crying in each other's hooves until they heard panicked voices calling out to them.

Starlight found herself back in the present with Sunburst's worried smile looking into her eyes. "Starlight? Did I say something wrong?" he asked, frowning.

"No. Not at all." Starlight felt tears start to roll down her face as she looked into Sunburst's eyes. Those big greenish-blue eyes that were always there for her when she needed them. The eyes belonging to her best friend. And the eyes she fell in love with. She smiled through her tears and hugged Sunburst harder than she ever hugged anypony before.

Sunburst's cheeks were now dark red, not just from the blushing, but from Starlight choking him with her hug. "Starlight... I can't... breathe!" he choked out.

"Oh! Sorry!" Starlight apologized, releasing her vice grip. "I was just so happy and I didn't know what to do, because no one's ever made me feel like that and I-"

"It's okay, Starlight! I'm fine," Sunburst told her, interrupting her rambling. "There's also something else I've been meaning to tell you."

"More?! Sunburst if you keep talking, I'm pretty sure I'm going to explode over here." Starlight said, not really lying. Every word Sunburst said made Starlight's heart beat faster and faster. She was at the point where she felt her heart was going to beat right out of her chest.

"Well, I have to say it. I was going to tell you at dinner but, I just can't hold it in any longer." Starlight started to get a little nervous as she waited for what he had to say. "When I was listing all the reasons I look up to you for, I might've left out one very important reason. You... are the mare... I fell in love with." Starlight could feel it. This was the exact moment her heart burst out of her chest and ran away down the street. She couldn't hold it back much longer. "I know this must seem weird to you. I mean, you're probably thinking something like 'Oh, how could you, love me?' but I think-" Starlight couldn't hold it anymore, she went straight in.

He saw fireworks go off in his head. He felt like every dream he had ever had were coming true in front of his very eyes. He felt... amazing, as he realized what Starlight just did. Starlight was full-on kissing him! Never, in all of Sunburst's wildest dreams, did Sunburst think that it would be Starlight, who ended up kissing him. It was perfect. Time slowed down, as the kiss seemed to last a lifetime.

Starlight finally pulled back, only to say, "Sunburst, I love you too! I love you more than I've ever loved anypony! I know I haven't really loved anypony before, but you know what I mean!"

Sunburst was at a complete loss for words. Not only was she the one to kiss him, but Starlight said she loved him. Sunburst was unsure whether he was dreaming or not. "So, when you said that you had something to tell me-?"

"I was going to tell you exactly that," she told him. The two ponies pressed their foreheads together, as they stayed in each other's embrace. "I only just realized it myself, but it hit me hard."

That made Sunburst think back to when he fell in love with Starlight. He couldn't remember exactly when, but he did remember a certain dire bear attack when he started to see Starlight as more than just a friend. _Maybe that's why I stopped talking to her. Maybe I stopped talking because I was confused._ _Oh, but who cares! She came back and loves me in return._ "So does that make tonight a date?" Sunburst asked.

Starlight looked into Sunburst's eyes and gave a short laugh. "Definitely," she said, resting her forehead back on his. The two ponies just remained there, clinging to each other as if their lives depended on it. It was the happiest moment of Sunburst's life. So happy in fact, that he completely ignored the dancing bush with a purple spiked tail.

Along with the shout familiar shout, "TWILIGHT SPARKLE, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE WANTED TO BE A PART OF THIS PLAN!"

* * *

"I knew exactly what the 'Friendship Problem' was for," Cadence told him, as she trotted on.

"Wait, how? I thought that it was Spike's plan?"

"Do you really think Spike was the one who noticed the spark between you two? I'm the Princess of Love, I noticed your feeling the moment I saw you with Starlight," Cadence explained, calmly. "However, I wanted to try my hoof at matchmaking without spells. So I suggested that Spike try to get you two together."

Sunburst was dumbstruck. Sunburst could've asked any number of questions but he decided to go with the obvious one. "Why would you do that for me...?" Sunburst asked.

"Well, you've been a huge help with Flurry lately and I wanted to return the favor."She did that for me? This was a weird feeling for Sunburst. No one had ever cared about him enough, except maybe Starlight, to do something like that for him. "Then... why didn't Spike say anything about you?" Sunburst asked, trying to focus his mind.

"I'm a lot more subtle than you think," Cadence replied, with a smirk. "He still thinks it was all his idea. I knew all you needed was a little time to spend with Starlight and it would eventually happen. So, I convinced Spike that you two liked each other and had him take care of it."

"I think you might be my favorite Princess now," he said, quietly. Cadence just gave him another smirk and continued walking toward Flurry's room. Cadence is a secret mastermind! That's both intriguing and disturbing.

By the time the two ponies got to Flurry's room, Flurry was already asleep on her mothers back.

"Oh, you've gotten so big, Flurry," Cadence whispered, as she looked back at her filly. "I'm not sure you'll fit in your crib anymore," she continued, looking at the small crib in front of her.

Sunburst looked at the small crib and back at Flurry. Now that he thought about it, the crib definitely was going to be too small for the rapidly growing filly. I guess you can't really expect a crib to last forever. Sure, it fit her last year when she was born, but Alicorns grow a lot faster than regular ponies.

Then Sunburst got an idea. Sunburst's horn started to glow yellow as he readied a spell. He aimed at the crib and let the spell go, as it made the crib grow to the perfect size for Flurry."Oh, well that sure is useful. Thank you, Sunburst," Cadence said, before placing the sleeping filly in the crib. Cadence could see Sunburst trying to hold back his excitement, and smiled. "The better magic is definitely a welcomed side effect of your new relationship."

"You'll have to thank Twilight for that one. She's the one who thought that would work," Sunburst admitted, still brimming from the successful spell.

Cadence smiled. "Yeah, she's great," she told him. "Well, I've got to go find Shiny. He's got to help me out with a few things. I'll talk to you later, Sunburst." And with that Cadence walked out the door and down the hallway.

Sunburst watched her walk away, then turned to the sleeping filly. She was just about the cutest thing he'd ever seen, all curled up in a ball and sucking on her hoof. "I missed you too, Flurry," he said, lowering his head to give Flurry a kiss on the head.

Starlight stood in awe at the giant crystal castle in front of her. Sure, Starlight had been here before, but it still caught her off guard. She slowly raised a hoof to the door and was about to knock. The door swung open, just in time for Starlight to jump out of the way of an orange projectile being flung out the door.

The object hit a wall and fell to the ground. Then it started moving. It groaned in a familiar voice.

"Sunburst?" Starlight asked, looking at the orange unicorn. Just then, she noticed a small pink blob cradled in Sunburst's hooves.

"Got you, Flurry!" he said, confidently. "Now, no more gravity spells!" Sunburst looked up to see Starlight, standing over him.

"That's not a very nice way to greet your new marefriend," Starlight said, jokingly. "I'd much prefer a simple 'hello' as opposed to you flying into my face through a door."

"Oh, um, hi Starlight. Wh-what are you doing here?" Sunburst asked, standing up with Flurry in his magical hold. "And why do you have so many bags with you?" Sunburst looked at the half a dozen bags Starlight was floating with her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were moving in."

"Oh, I am." Starlight replied, in a matter-of-factly way.

"Oh, okay, that explains the- WAIT WHAT?!"

"Yeah, Twilight said something about moving to the Crystal Empire and studying the magic of love." Starlight explained. She put her hoof up to her chin. "I'm pretty sure she just likes the idea of us as a couple.""But-but where are you gonna sleep?" Sunburst weakly argued.

Starlight gave raised her eyebrow at him. "Sunny, it's a castle, there are tons of rooms," she pointed out. "So of course I'll be sleeping in your room! Okay bye!" she said, quickly, after planting a fast kiss on Sunburst's cheek and running into the castle.

Sunburst was stunned for a second before he realized what she said. He shouted and chased after her, still using his magic to hold Flurry. "I don't think that's such a good idea!" he shouted from behind Starlight, face deep red.

Starlight eventually lost Sunburst and ran into a certain pink Alicorn.

"Oh, hello Starlight. Twilight told me you were coming, but I didn't think you'd be here so soon," Cadence said, looking down at the unicorn.

"Hello Princess," Starlight said, with a short bow. "I was just looking for Sunburst's bedroom. Could you help me find it?""Oh, but don't you want to set down your bags somewhere before you talk to Sunburst?" Cadence asked.

Starlight was about to speak up, when Sunburst came bursting down the hallway. "Princess Cadence, tell Starlight she can't stay in my room!"

Cadence looked back at Sunburst, as a mischievous grin crept onto her face. "That's a wonderful idea, Sunburst. I think you two should share a room. It'll help you two get closer as a couple," Cadence said, turning back towards Starlight. "Here, I'll take Flurry with me, and you show Starlight to her new room." Cadence grabbed Flurry with her magic and floated the baby onto her back.

Sunburst was as red as Big Mac by now. As Starlight could practically see all the lewd and embarrassing thoughts running through his head.

Starlight walked over to Sunburst's side and wrapped one hoof around his neck. "Come on, Sunburst! Let's go to our new room," she whispered in Sunburst's ear, somehow making him even redder.

Sunburst gave a tiny squeak but didn't move. Starlight looked into his eyes. Sunburst was completely petrified.

"I think I broke him," Starlight said, with a laugh. "Unfortunately, I think I'm gonna have to push you to our new room now. Oh well! I'll find it eventually. Let's go, Sunburst!" Starlight pushed her new coltfriend statue down the hallway, in search of her new room and new life in the Crystal Empire. Her happy, and awkward, new life with her best friend.


	3. Where It Began

"Twilight? Are you okay?" Starlight asked.

She froze. "S-starlight! It's just... my only family left has just passed..."

She put a hoof on Twilight. "Twi, you can't dwell on Shining Armor's death. Y'know I don't have any sisters, and if you want..."

The alicorn's eyes widened. "You mean it?"

"We're best friends now. I wouldn't mind! I dunno about Sunburst, though."

The two laughed.

The scene wavered to a year after.

"Sunny," Starlight said to Sunburst, "Can I talk with my sister? Alone?"

Nodding, he went to his room.

"Is it about your newcoming baby?" Twilight asked.

She nodded. "Can you... keep a secret?"

"Secret?" Her ears folded down.

"Please, don't tell Starry about me..." She muttered.

"Why?" The alicorn tilted her head.

"I... have made a deal. And I might turn... into one of them..."

"Oh... oh no.."

"Please, I can't risk hurting Sunburst or Starry Burst. I have to hide. Somewhere..."

"Trust me, you can hide. And... I promise." She made the gesture. "Cross my heart, do not cry, end the rest with a sigh."

"Which one did you do?"

"Cheese Promise." She chuckled.

"Right... Well, I have to... go..."

"Auntie Twilight?"

In the present, Twilight looked down at the purple foal. Starry Burst...

"Oh, Starry. What is it?" She smiled.

"What's wrong? You were crying earlier when there was a letter from uncle Flash."

She froze completely.

 _Dear Twilight,_

 _I know that I said I was going to the mountains with my friend, but if I don't come back..._

 _Please know that I love you. Might see you tomorrow or at midnight._

 _~Flash Sentry, 2017 June 15. Arrived message at 2017 July 21._

She wiped her eyes. "Your mom was great at comforting me..."

Starry Burst tilted her head. "What's a mom?"

 _She's so innocent... Everypony thinks Star is dead... Oh, what if she is?_

"Auntie, you're having a scared face again."

Sighing, Twilight smiled at the filly. "Go play with your friends, Starry."

Starry jumped from the table, going to play with Flurry Heart and Comet.

"I guess this is where it begins," The princess looked over the horizon.


End file.
